Cavs-Dubs Christmas CrossWire w/ Warriors Wire's Chris Biderman

It’s a Christmas edition of CrossWire! I chatted with Warriors Wire editor Chris Biderman about the matchup, what it means for both teams, how ridiculous LeBron has been and more ahead of Monday’s Christmas Day game between the Cavs and Warriors.

Erik: The Warriors have been chugging along quite well (winning nine of their last 10 games) without Steph and for a long time, Draymond. What’s been their formula for success?

Chris: They definitely have to change the way they play offensively without Curry freelancing and taking wild shots. Steve Kerr has emphasized a more methodical approach, which relies more heavily on executing set plays, cutting and passing. Defensively, there hasn’t been much drop off. The Warriors have long, switchy defenders like Shaun Livingston and Patrick McCaw they can count on to slow opposing back courts. But the biggest key without Curry, of course, is Kevin Durant, who’s averaging 32.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 3.0 blocks since Curry rolled his ankle. Durant’s been able to take his game to another level and the Warriors have still won seven straight without their two-time MVP. They’ve also gotten nice contributions from reserve swingman Omri Casspi (double figures in five straight games) and rookie Jordan Bell, who logged his first double-double on Friday with a 20-10 showing against the Lakers.

Warriors fans are curious about how the Cavs are playing without Kyrie Irving and a re-tooled roster. What’s been the biggest difference between these Cavs and the teams that made the last three finals. And how ridiculous has LeBron been this season?

Erik: The Cavs obviously miss Kyrie’s creativity off the dribble. He was a walking bucket and the Cavs just don’t have that anymore. However, losing Kyrie has forced them to do a couple of things. 1) Kevin Love! Remember the versatile, scoring, rebounding threat from Minnesota? Well, he’s as close as he’s ever been to that form in Cleveland. He’s currently having his best season as a Cav so far and has been Cleveland’s second best player by a wide margin. He’s showed up basically every night that the Cavs have needed him to. 2) Dwyane Wade has been crucial off the bench. When LeBron sits, he’s usually on the court and those minutes have been invaluable. He can still do a lot of the things he’s always been able to do, he just can’t do it for as long as he used to. With that said, his size and sturdiness on defense has helped at the point of attack and his creation has thrived alongside the spacing from Kyle Korver.

As for LeBron, I’m still not sure people really comprehend his greatness so far this season. LeBron’s eFG% coming into this game is 62.5. How great is that? When Stephen Curry led the Warriors to their magical 73-win season, his eFG% was 63. His 3-point percentage has jumped and he’s getting to the hoop as good as he has in his career. And he’s also shooting 78% at the rim. And that’s just when you talk about his shooting. He’s been fantastic on the defensive end in key moments, shutting down everyone from Kristaps Porzingis to Kemba Walker down the stretch. He’s become even more of a superhero in the clutch. He leads everyone in the league in clutch scoring by 11 total points. And the only guys with a clutch plus-minus rivaling his are Kyle Korver, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Love, who are all his teammates. He’s been pretty amazing, even for him.

Kevin Durant has been leading the Warriors lately. But without Draymond Green, did he go up another level on the defensive end?

Chris: Durant’s said publicly that he’s wanted to find ways to unlock other areas of his game now that he has a championship supporting cast. That means trying to be more efficient on the offensive end, facilitating for his teammates and stepping up defensively. As I mentioned, Durant’s averaging 3.0 blocks since Curry went down. He entered Saturday’s game leading the NBA with 60 blocks on the year and second averaging 2.2 per game. Furthermore, the Warriors lead the league with 278 blocks. The Spurs are second at 192 – so Durant’s certainly should be considered for defensive recognition for the first time in his career at season’s end. Green returned from his shoulder injury on Friday and should be good to go on Monday barring any aggravation of the injury. And with the addition of rookie Jordan Bell, the Warriors might have their best shot-blocking front court since the first Finals appearance in 2015.

What are the expectations for Isaiah Thomas’ return and what’s your gut telling you on when he comes back? And how concerned are people in Cleveland about his ability to return to the form of last season when he was leading the Celtics to the No. 1 seed?

Erik: I think he is going to come back this week. He’s said that he wants to get in a rhythm, but he also said he’s not going to play for the Canton Charge, so that really only leaves one option for him to get it back: play. Because the Cavs don’t practice. I think there is some level of concern, as there would be with any injured player coming back, but the way Thomas and the Cavs have gone about it should give confidence that he’s not coming back too soon. The Cavs have been on a tear for the last two months and it’s not as if they need him to win right now. But they do need him as the season progresses, especially when it comes to not overusing Dwyane Wade.

Thomas is all about the #SLOWgrind and he and the Cavs have stuck to that. They’ve been patient with him and I have no reason to believe that Thomas won’t be very productive when he comes back. He may not be the guy he was for Boston last year and even if he was fully healthy, he wouldn’t be that same guy with LeBron. He was Boston’s lone reliable scoring option and he has much more offensive talent at his disposal. Even if he’s not the same guy he was in Boston, with Cleveland’s point guard situation the way it is, there’s no way he won’t help.

The Warriors reportedly don’t think Cavs are a threat. And the Cavs have already said that they don’t think this matchup holds any weight. But what are you looking for, if anything, in this matchup? Also, they’re just over two weeks away from playing each other. Do you think that one will hold more weight?

Chris: I definitely think the Warriors consider the Cavs a threat. They know, despite the Finals going just five games last summer, that LeBron is capable of greatness. That was a highly competitive series. Who knows what would have happened if Cleveland held on in Game 3? But I agree that this match up doesn’t hold all that much weight. Last year’s Christmas game is proof. Golden State was still trying to figure out how to play with Durant. Curry was struggling to be himself while trying to work his new running mate into the fold. And without Curry and Thomas playing Monday, I doubt either team will lose much sleep over the result. Both teams have a good understanding of the long road to the Finals and will focus on peaking at the right time rather than putting their eggs into a game in December. That’s not to say the Warriors won’t play with the necessary edge they’ve been lacking against some inferior opponents lately. But it won’t be the end of the world in the Warriors locker room in Cleveland comes in and yanks the upset.

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